Employment

Employment

Entering the world of workcan be a challenge for youth and adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Preparation is key and there are many resources available to help youth and adults work through their expectations and those of their prospective employers. Below is some important information you should be aware of as your child begins to enter the workplace.

Accommodations in the Workplace

The Manitoba Human Rights Code prohibits discrimination in the workplace against individuals who have a physical or mental disability. The overall purpose of the code is to ensure that all individuals have equal participation and opportunities available to them in their environment. If an employee has a special need, the workplace must make reasonable accommodations to allow the employee to participate and engage in their work.

A reasonable accommodation is when an employer will change how something is typically done in their workplace to take into account the needs of a person that has a disability. Workplace accommodations are variable and unique to each individual. Changes made are typically simple and inexpensive. Depending on the workplace job requirements, some positions may not be as accommodating as others. The workplace must follow guidelines to ensure that a position has attempted to be accommodated before it’s determined to be not available for a particular person with a disability.

It is important to have a discussion with your workplace early on if you know you will be requiring an accommodation. Good communication, understanding, and following up will ensure that employees and employers have a successful work experience.

These are some examples of reasonable accommodations that may occur in a workplace:

If employee is having difficultly working early mornings due to medication side effects, the workplace may accommodate this by giving individual flexible work hours, or changing their hours to best suit their health needs.

If individual needs to engage in health activities (such as taking medications, sitting down, or going for a walk) during particular times of day, the workplace can accommodate this by changing employees break times to best fit their health needs.

If employee has difficulty working for long periods, the workplace can accommodate this by allowing periodic rest breaks to reorient.

If employee is easily distracted in their work environment, the workplace can accommodate this by minimizing distractions, or see if there is another location where the employee can work.

It is important to identify issues and concerns early and resolve them quickly to make sure everyone is working in a healthy workplace environment. When you need to speak to someone about a problem in the workplace begin with supervisors or managing personnel. It is important to document conversations and concerns you have had with others. Document if problems were resolved or not.

If problems were unable to be resolved in your workplace, work your way up the chain of command. This would involve contacting the Human Resource (HR) department at your company. HR representatives handle complaints from employees and act as a mediator between parties. Most issues should be resolved between managing personnel, supervisors and the employee. To maintain healthy relationships, and the most control over the problems it is best to try to resolve problems at the lower levels of command.

If problems in the workplace continue to not be addressed, and the problem is a discrimination against your disability you can file a complaint with The Human Rights Commission. To get more information on filing a complaint, visit the following website or contact The Manitoba Human Rights Commission – How to file a complaint.

Supported employment works towards finding employment in the community for individuals with a disability. Supported employment programs will help people with disabilities gain skills needed for the workplace, transition into their integrated workplace position and will support them and their employers to ensure success in the workplace.

Below is a list of supported employment programs that may be available to individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). To get more information about the supported employment programs visit their websites:

Level IT Up is a social enterprise promoting the mutual benefits of employing skilled adults with ASD in Winnipeg’s tech sector.

Below is a list of workbooks, articles and websites offering information and assistance to individuals with ASD who are wanting to enter the workforce. Please note that there are many more resources available and always new products and guides being developed to help in this area.